Faded Smoke
by I.W.P-chan
Summary: Ren is back in his hometown. Unfortunately, he is in no way prepared for the surprises that are about to be sprung up on him. (Prequel 'Smokescreen' posted.)


Summary: Ren is back in his hometown. Unfortunately, he is in no way prepared for the surprises that are about to be sprung up on him.

 _Note: happy November 20_ _th_ _:D Today is the Day :3c_

 _Everyone else: [makes interrogation room content]_

 _Me: [laughs hysterically and writes an AU with delinquent!Akechi] :'D_

 **Warnings: Delinquent!Akechi AU (But Akechi Doesn't Delinquent Much), Post Game Ending, Ren's 'Akechi-Senpai' Strikes Again, Akechi Didn't Lewd The Cat.**

 **Disclaimer:** Don't own P5.

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Ren knew exactly what kind of welcome awaited him in his hometown after he finally extracted himself from his mothers' grip and ventured outside of the house, the Thieves having long since left, very much reluctantly, to return to Tokyo.

He grabbed his bag, Morgana sliding into it as was his habit, poking his head out of it to observe Ren's hometown. Ren let him be.

He had somewhere to be.

He made his way to one of his previous usual hangout spots, passing through familiar streets, walking past familiar landmarks. Some people side-eyed him, clearly recognizing him, and started whispering to each other. After Shujin, Ren didn't have any more fucks to give about rumors spread about him or his supposed delinquent status, so he brushed off the murmurs, and continued on his way.

Past a supermarket facing a playground, at the mouth of an alleyway between the supermarket and a bookshop, a hand darted out to grab him by the arm and pull him in. The grip of the hand was familiar in ways that made Ren want to smirk.

He was pushed against the wall of the alley, and two arms caged him in. Ren found himself staring into the intense reddish-brown eyes of one Akechi Goro, who was staring at him with a frown as he scrutinized Ren's face.

Ren almost smiled.

Morgana hissed, "Ren! What is it?! Do you know him? Is he dangerous? Is he planning to hurt you?"

Akechi raised an eyebrow, and Ren allowed the smile to slip into his face, "It's fine, Morgana. This is Akechi-senpai, I know him from school."

Akechi scoffed, "I'm not your senpai anymore, I graduated."

"You'll always be senpai for me though."

Akechi's frown deepened and he brought his hands to cup Ren's face, "What did Tokyo do to you? You never used to be this bold. If I did this before you left, you'd be a blushing stuttering mess right now," He remarked, almost sounding wistful.

"You want me to blush for you, senpai?" Ren batted his eyelashes at Akechi flirtatiously.

Akechi scoffed again and pushed away from Ren to lean against the opposite wall, shoving his hands into his pockets, "So cheeky." He shook his head, "What's with the cat?" He raised an eyebrow, lips tilting a bit at the corner in a crooked smile.

Ren sniffed imperiously, "I'll have you know he's not my long lost sibling!"

"But I didn't say anything about that." Akechi's crooked smile widened, gaining a sharper edge and a hint of teeth, and Ren's heart skipped a few beats.

"You were implying it." He crossed his arms.

The two stood in silence for a while, Akechi just watching Ren, who did his best not to squirm under the careful scrutiny. Morgana bumped his head against Ren's cheek, and Ren's lips twitched into a fond smile.

Akechi must have caught it, because he frowned again, lips pressing into a thin line.

"What is it?" Ren asked, and Akechi huffed before he pushed off the wall he was leaning on and walked back towards Ren.

The moment Akechi reached him, he threw his left arm over Ren's shoulder and pulled him with him, pressing Ren against his side, "Come on, there is a new bakery in town."

Ren raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"I'm taking you there. My treat."

Ren's eyes widened, "What?"

"You heard me. I told you the day you left that if you come back looking kinda alright, I'll take you somewhere nice or treat you to something."

Ren scoffed, "I didn't think you'd do it."

"You didn't think you'd come back alright?"

Ren blinked and reached to tug at his bangs, "Is that surprising?"

"No. To be frank, you don't look alright to me, either."

Ren almost stopped in his tracks in shock, but Akechi kept walking, pulling Ren with him, so Ren had no other choice but to follow. Morgana made a distressed sound from inside his bag.

"Then I guess we should call the bakery thing off if I don't look alright."

"Nonsense. You look too thin for my liking."

" _Too thin_ ," Ren repeated, incredulous, "What are you, my mother?"

"I'm your friend," Akechi ground out, "I'm your _friend_ you stubborn leech. You attached yourself to me for years, you expect me to not care about you? You expect me to not notice when you look like you just came out of the wringer? Like you went through hell and back?"

Heat rushed to Ren's face, and he tilted his head away so Akechi's wouldn't see it.

The two kept walking until they reached the bakery Akechi had mentioned.

Akechi pushed him to one of the nearby benches and ordered him to sit and wait until he came back, as he didn't want to risk getting Ren inside with a cat in his bag.

(Which was surprising, who knew Akechi would have cared about something like that.)

Ren smiled awkwardly as Morgana hissed in displeasure from the bag; it was weird to be with people who knew Morgana was in his bag, but didn't trust Morgana to behave. He probably would have to get used to it- until people got used to Mona.

Akechi didn't take long until he was back with a small white box, the smell of freshly baked goodies wafting from it.

And speaking of smell…

Ren waited until Akechi sat down next to him and placed the box between them before he asked a question that had nagged at him since Akechi shoved him against a wall.

"You don't smell of cigarettes like you usually do. Are you trying to cut back?"

Akechi stared at the bakery box hard for a few moments before he huffed, "I quit."

"You… quit?" Ren asked, incredulous.

"You don't have to sound so surprised," Akechi muttered, raking a hand through his hair, "I told you, didn't I? When you told me about your probation?"

"And you proceeded to tell me that I didn't have a single nasty bone in my body that will allow me to assault someone innocent," Ren replied dryly.

"Yes." Akechi nodded, "And what happened after that?"

"I was offended," Ren said, offended (he would never forget the laughter that broke out of Akechi when Ren told him that he was put on probation), "And you said that if I ever became an actual criminal, you'd quit." Ren was miffed, "But I didn't become an actual criminal!"

Akechi rolled his eyes and reached for his phone, "I'm not a blind dumbass, _dumbass_." He fiddled with his phone, looking for something among the files before he turned the screen Ren's way.

Ren's breath hitched when he saw the screenshot that took up every inch of the screen.

It was a close up of Ren, gray eyes burning with determination, hidden behind a black and white domino mask.

It was a close up of _Joker_.

 _From the broadcast._

"I would recognize those eyes and fluffy hair anywhere." Akechi locked the phone and shoved it back into his pocket, "I don't even remember what possessed me to take the screenshot, I just knew I took it before I lost the image. At first I thought I was hallucinating, seeing you in places where you couldn't possibly be out of obsession, but the longer I stared at it, the more I was convinced I was right. There is no way it could be anyone but you. And your voice…"

"What?"

Blood rushed to Akechi's cheeks, and he scowled through his embarrassment, "Never mind that! The point is, you've become an actual criminal, so I quit smoking, that's all that matters! _Now eat!_ "

Ren stared at Akechi for a while, uncomprehending of what just happened, but Morgana's worried mumbles rose him out of his stupor.

He never expected to be confronted about being the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts so soon after he returned to his hometown, and by Akechi of all people.

Strangely enough, he wasn't worried.

Or maybe it wasn't so strange, that he wasn't worried, the Phantom Thieves, as an official group, were no more, and he wasn't their leader, he was just Ren now. His stunts in the Metaverse were over, he had no more targets, no more changes of heart on his schedule, he'd turned himself in, he'd testified against Shido and saved his friends in the process.

He was free now.

"I'm not going to tell anyone else." Akechi looked annoyed, eyes narrowed on Ren, as if daring him to argue, and Ren chuckled.

"Oh, I'm not worried about that. At all." Ren winked and reached for the box still sitting between them, "Enough about me, though, what about you? We never kept in contact-" He narrowed his eyes at Akechi, "-because someone refused to give me their phone number in all the years I knew him."

"You never had the guts to ask, so I didn't offer." Akechi shrugged.

Ren huffed and opened the box, plucking out two cookies, offering one of them to Morgana, who had hopped out of the bag, and nibbling on the other.

"So?"

" _So?_ "

"I asked you about yourself. Anything interesting happened to you while I was away."

Akechi sighed, "I almost miss the times you were too spineless to ask."

"Almost?" Ren frowned.

Akechi shrugged, "Nothing much except for my sperm donor."

Ren almost crushed the cookie in his hand and smiled blandly, "Oh? Did he crawl out of whichever stinky alleyway he died in?"

Akechi snorted, sending Ren a strange look, "So, apparently, he'd been overcome by a change of heart." Ren raised an eyebrow at the peculiar phrasing, knowing that Akechi knew who Ren was, why would he- "He's sending mother money as compensation after all those years."

"Money?" Ren asked incredulously, "He can't even send an apology, or at least show his face to apologize personally?"

"He sent an apology note, he said he didn't expect to be forgiven. And, well, it's not like he can show his face when he's on trial, accused of multiple crimes, especially with the position he was about to hold before he confessed. And also because the last time he was around town, he was harassing a woman, and framed an innocent of assault." Akechi stared intently at Ren, as if willing him to understand an underlying meaning to his words.

Ren, thankfully, was not _that_ dumb, "Oh, don't tell me…"

Akechi's lips stretched into a wide, brilliant smile, the expression almost sparkling in its brightness, and had Ren not known Akechi for years, he would have been taken in by that smile as a charming, innocent, boyish smile, but for Ren, it looked very threatening.

And by the way Morgana stiffened against his side, Ren could tell he felt it, too.

Akechi pushed the box closer to Ren, "Eat up, we still have a long day ahead of us, and a lot of time for me to show you my appreciation for your efforts." Akechi's voice dropped into a seductive purr, and Ren swallowed thickly, very aware of the way Akechi eyed him like he was ready to devour him in any moment.

Well.

That was certainly one way to get pleasantly surprised.

.

After Ren and Morgana polished off the cookies in the box, Akechi stood up and pulled Ren with him after Morgana nestled back into Ren's bag and Ren had chucked the box into the bin besides their seat.

"Where are we going now?" Ren wondered as he looked around him; the area was one he was unfamiliar with, one he didn't venture into a lot because he didn't have much to do in it, as it was a residential area, and he didn't have any friends living in it.

"My place."

Ren almost choked, "Your building doesn't allow pets, you could get into trouble because of Morgana, and I know your mother is already on bad terms with the landlord."

"We moved out."

"You did? Oh, okay. Wait, where did you move?"

Akechi shrugged one shoulder and gestured vaguely, "Just farther in the area. Remember the new apartment complex they were building? It was finished four months back and the apartments were up for grabs, my mother didn't hesitate. She saw a chance and took it."

"Is living there better?"

Akechi snorted, "Yes, of course it's better."

Ren blushed slightly, "I meant, how are your neighbors? The people around you and Akechi-san?"

Akechi shrugged again, "Not much different from before, we know how to deal with them, though, you don't have to worry."

Ren frowned slightly, "That's not- It just- It would be very nice if you and Akechi-san didn't have to deal with that anymore."

Akechi raised an eyebrow at him, "People are people wherever you go, and they spread rumors and talk about others behind each other's backs, I don't think this situation would change unless mother and I moved somewhere far, far away from here." Akechi grabbed his hand to tug him into a left turn.

Ren waited for a few moments for Akechi to let go of his hand, but Akechi didn't. In fact, he tightened his hold on Ren's hand, and entwined their fingers together.

Ren ducked his head slightly, willing down a spectacular blush.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Ren gathered his courage to speak up again, "You didn't tell me, though, what about the pet policy in your new apartment."

"Does it matter?"

Ren sent Akechi a Look, "As much as I'd love to enable rebellion and following your own heart, I'd rather not get you and Akechi-san in trouble."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Besides, Morgana seems to be very well-behaved. We won't get into trouble, I promise."

Ren nodded slowly, "Alright. What are we going to do at your place?"

"Catch up, mainly, naturally, have dinner, catch up some more after dinner, watch some movies."

"What?"

"What is it?"

Ren shook his head, "I didn't think we'd be spending that long, I didn't tell my mothers. I should-"

"I already discussed it with them, they know."

"And they didn't tell me?" Ren was annoyed, but not surprised in the least.

"Oh, and if you want to spend the night, you're more than welcom-"

"No, nope." Ren shook his head, faint blush staining his cheeks; he didn't trust himself to stay the night over at Akechi's place so soon, especially after the talk the two had earlier about Akechi's father, about Shido, he needed to get back to his own room and think about it all. Besides, he needed to readjust after Tokyo…

Akechi scrutinized him carefully, eyebrow raised, but he nodded, "Alright. You probably need to crash at your own room after getting back from Tokyo." Akechi suddenly stopped in place, and Ren had to stop as well, given how the two were still holding hands (and no, Ren didn't want to combust over that fact, nope, not at all), "Am I overwhelming you?" Akechi asked, sounding very serious.

 _Yes_ , Ren thought, _you actually are overwhelming, with your question more than anything because this is a level of caring attentiveness from you that I haven't learned how to deal with yet because you were always very careful with me and very closed in on yourself so it's jarring to-_

His thoughts stuttered to a halt when Akechi stepped closer to him, "Ren? You're zoning out on me, is everything okay?"

"No," Ren whispered, voice hoarse, "I mean yes. Everything is fine!" He almost yelled.

"We can get you back home and do this another day if you're not-"

Ren tightened his grip on Akechi's hand, "No! I'm fine. I'm. Overwhelmed. But a good kind of overwhelmed."

"'A good kind of overwhelmed'?" Akechi parroted.

Ren nodded, "Yes. Now, we were planning to go to your place, right?"

Akechi carefully inspected Ren's face before he continued walking.

.

The trip to Akechi's apartment was spent in silence that was only broken when they reached the door to Akechi's place, and Akechi's mother opened the door.

"There you two are," She said, tone dry in the way Ren associated with being the usual speaking tone both mother and son shared, "Took you long enough." She ushered them in, raising an eyebrow as she eyed them with a devious glint, and Ren felt dread shoot down his spine, oh god what was she going to say next to- "Were you two making out in an alleyway or something? Goro, didn't I tell you not to lewd the cat? At least tell me you did it safely."

Max Guts, as Futaba had called them, or not, nothing would ever prepare Ren to weather Akechi-san's teasing and survive. Nothing. He just wished he somehow acquired her son's thick skin against her teasing via osmosis.

So, while Akechi merely rolled his eyes and tugged Ren to walk along with him, to his room, no doubt, Ren was doing his best not to crash right where he stood, face flaming red.

Morgana popped his head to hiss into his ear, "What was that about lewding the cat?"

Ren frankly didn't want to explain to Morgana how Akechi-san always referred to him as a cat, and pretty much meant 'don't lewd Ren', so he was saved when Akechi-san noticed Morgana and followed after the teens in curiosity.

"Who's your new friend, Ren-chan?"

"This is Morgana," Ren said as he and Akechi stopped at the door that must have led to Akechi's room, noticing that Akechi didn't open the door yet.

He was probably waiting for his mother to lose interest in them and allow them their privacy.

Which wasn't going to happen if she latched onto Morgana.

Which meant…

Ren slid the bag off his shoulder and reached for Morgana, who protested at the manhandling, surprised, "Akechi-san, this is Morgana, a friend I made back in Tokyo, and he stuck with me. Morgana, this is Akechi Yume-san, Akechi-senpai's mother." Without further ado, he pushed Morgana towards Akechi-san, who didn't hesitate in snatching Morgana out of his arms to settle him down into hers, attention now focused on him.

Akechi took the chance to open the door and slip inside.

 _Your sacrifice won't be in vain, Mona_ , Ren thought, and followed after Akechi.

Akechi's room wasn't any different from what Ren remembered it to be, back in the Akechis' previous apartment, somewhat messy, pretty much sparse in decoration aside from a singular Featherman poster, a collection of cheap, plastic Featherman figures (the sight of which never ceased to make Ren's heart beat faster- he'd been the one to get that collection for Akechi, one figure at a time across multiple birthdays, and Akechi kept it and took careful care of it), and a few trinkets strewn across his desk.

Akechi guided him to the bed, and Ren sat down tentatively on it, feeling a bit awkward when Akechi sat down next to him, close enough to touch, shoulders and knees brushing against each other.

Akechi leaned close to whisper in his ear, "So, what did you get up to, in Tokyo?"

.

Ren didn't mean to spill as much as he did, about the Metaverse, about the Shadows, and Personas, and Palaces, about the changes of heart, about Shujin, about the people he met, the places he went to, the skills he learned, but it was easy to keep talking, when the person listening to him was the one he'd always spilled his secrets to, the one who'd always stayed with him, even though they were a year apart in age, and in school, the one who stubbornly refused to budge from his side even with the arrest.

The one Ren missed so much, it hurt.

He was in the process of telling Akechi in hushed whispers about Shido's ship, with its opulence, masked guests, twisting corridors, cursed statues, and the goddamn speakers blasting a speech by Shido, when a knock on the door caused them to snap into attention, and Akechi-san called for them.

"Come on, boys, dinner is ready!"

Morgana shouted from beyond the door, "You two better not have been getting 'busy' while inside!"

Akechi blinked, "What's he saying?"

Ren merely cleared his throat awkwardly and untangled himself from where he ended up entangled with Akechi, "He's saying that you better not have lewded the cat." He chuckled lightly as he stood up to head to the door.

Akechi grabbed him by the hand, stopping him in place before tugging him back to whisper into his ear, "Unfortunately, it's not the time and place for such activities."

Ren pushed him away, blush flaring to life on his cheeks, "Stop that." Akechi snorted and loosened his hold on Ren, letting him easily slip away to the door.

"We're coming!" Akechi called back and stood to follow Ren out of the room.

.

Akechi-san took the chance to ask Ren about his experiences in Tokyo over dinner. She wanted to catch up even if a little bit before she left for her night shift at her job, she said to Ren. Ren told her about Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya, the flower shop he worked at, and about sneaking Morgana to school with him every day ("So Goro _did_ corrupt you!" "Mother!").

After the meal was over, the table cleared away, and the dishes washed, Akechi-san left them in the living room to head to her room to get ready for her job.

Ren and Akechi settled on the living room's couch with Morgana curled up between them, waiting for Akechi-san to leave before they picked up the conversation from where they stopped.

"So," Akechi said once the door closed behind his mother, "You were telling me about Shido's ship."

"Yes, so-" " _What?!_ " Both Ren and Morgana spoke up at the same time, and the two turned to look at each other.

"You told him?" Morgana hissed, and Ren shrugged.

"It's not like I actually could have kept it a secret from him, Akechi-senpai is good at figuring me out."

Morgana gave him an unimpressed stare, "Yeah, but it wasn't like he could have found out about the Metaverse just by reading your body language."

"Mona," Ren spoke, keeping his voice patient, "You've never been on the receiving end of his interrogation, and I'd rather avoid that and be upfront about everything from the get-go."

Akechi rolled his eyes, "You don't have to talk like it was an actual interrogation."

Ren shrugged, "I was seven the first time you barraged me with questions, and I was an impressionable kid."

"'Impressionable' my ass." Akechi scoffed, "If you were, I would have had you skipping classes with me back in school, but you didn't, mister model student."

Ren was miffed, "When will you stop calling me- you know what? Let's get back to what we were discussing before, before we digress again." He huffed. Morgana rolled his eyes and sighed.

Akechi leaned forward, "Go on."

.

Talking out loud about his experiences in Mementos' depths, the merge between Mementos and Tokyo, and the feeling of disappearing from existence, if only briefly, was nerve-wracking, even with Morgana climbing into his lap and pressing his body against Ren for comfort, even with Akechi pulling him close and wrapping him in his arms.

After Ren finished talking about Sae approaching him about turning himself in, about how he'd done just that, Akechi tightened his hold on Ren, "You know, I don't think I'm ever letting you go stay in a different city without me again."

Ren snorted weakly, "Oh, really."

"Yes, it's like I can never trust anyone to take care of you."

"I'm not a baby. I can take care of myself."

Akechi sighed, "That's not what is it about, and you know it. Remember, you told me the same thing, a couple of years ago."

"Stop calling me out like this."

Morgana purred, "You should listen to him, you know."

"Even Morgana is calling me out. What is this, bully Ren day?"

"Maybe," Morgana said cheekily, "We do this because we care about you, you don't have to be the leader anymore, we're here for you to lean on us."

"I don't know what Morgana just said," Akechi said, "But I have a feeling that I should be agreeing with him."

Ren merely hummed in response, and the then the three fell silent for a few minutes before the silence was broken by Akechi.

"Hey, Ren?"

"What is it?"

"Can you- will you stop calling me Akechi?"

Ren let out a confused sound, and Akechi huffed, "What I mean is, will you drop the Akechi and start calling me with my first name already?"

Ren stiffened, and Akechi pulled away slightly, "Ren?"

Ren inhaled, "Sure thing, Goro-senpai."

.

Plans to watch a movie that evening were cancelled in favor of just basking in each other's presence in the quiet apartment while Morgana drifted off to sleep in Ren's lap.

Ake- _Goro_ nudged Ren and gestured at the clock, "It's getting late, you should head back."

Ren blinked dazedly at the clock and shook his head to clear the drowsiness that ensued from a combination of how late it was, the food, the travel, and the stress of telling Goro about his year in Tokyo, "Yeah." He stood up with Morgana carefully cradled within his arms.

"You want to put him back in the bag?" Goro questioned, and Ren nodded, "Alright, I'll get it for you."

"Thanks."

It took only a few moments for Goro to disappear into his room and return with Ren's bag. Goro stepped close to Ren and opened the bag to him so he could put Morgana inside, and then he helped Ren pull the straps on his shoulder and carefully brace Morgana's weight against ren's body to make sure he wouldn't be jostled much during their walk back.

"Come on, I'll walk you home."

Ren smiled faintly, "Thanks again."

Goro shook his head, "You don't need to thank me. I'm doing this for my own selfish reasons."

Ren shook his head in fond amusement, and followed Goro out of the apartment.

.

Their walk to Ren's house was spent in silence, hands grasped within each other and fingers entangled. And when they reached the entrance leading to Ren's house, he turned to Goro.

"Well, I guess this is it for the night. Meet later?"

Goro hummed thoughtfully and nodded before he took his phone out with his unoccupied left hand and tapped at the screen.

A mere moment later, Ren's phone pinged with an incoming message, and he reached with his own unoccupied right hand to his pocket to get his phone out and stare at the message notification on screen, received from an unknown number.

[Well?] The message had simply said, and Ren stared at it incredulously.

Goro shrugged and pocketed his phone, "You have my phone number now."

"You had my phone number but didn't contact me?" Ren didn't know how to feel about that fact, that Goro had his phone number all along but didn't reach out.

Goro averted his gaze, "I. Am sorry. I only gathered my courage to ask your mothers for the number only three weeks ago. But I didn't know what to say to you when you were going to be back within the month."

Ren shook his head in disbelief and sighed, "That's why you didn't contact me? Because you didn't have the guts for it? And you were too awkward to do it?" Part of Ren was miffed about it, another part was strangely (or maybe not so strangely) elated to know that Goro could be nervous around him just like Ren could be around Goro sometimes, and another part was glad that Goro didn't contact him, because he had no idea how he would have reacted to his first contact with Goro after months of nothing being a simple text message or a phone call.

Ren tugged at Goro's hand, "Look at me." He shoved his phone back into his pocket and waited until Goro did as Ren requested. Ren tried to ignore the ashamed blush that dusted Goro's cheeks, he really did, but he failed and ended up squeezing Goro's hand reassuringly and raising his unoccupied hand to cup Goro's cheek. "I'm not mad at you. I'm a bit annoyed, sure, but only a bit, and certainly not enough to cut you out of my life permanently over it. If I was ready to do that, I wouldn't have agreed to spend the day with you in the first place."

Goro's hand squeezed his and his reddish eyes finally gazed back at him.

Ren smiled deviously, "That means I'll just have to hog your attention while I can."

Goro chuckled lightly, "Alright. I get it. You should head in, though."

Ren hesitated, looking between Goro and his own house.

Goro leaned forward to whisper into Ren's ear, "We'll talk later, you have my phone number, now." He then pressed a kiss to Ren's cheek, and Ren felt his face flare red.

"Later, Ren." Goro pulled away and walked off, throwing a wave over his shoulder.

Ren raised his hand in a half-aborted waving motion, "Yeah. Later."

Frankly, he couldn't wait for later.

.

End


End file.
